IRG 1: Bio-Inspired Wet Adhesion

A fundamental challenge in materials science is engineering durable adhesive bonds in a wet environment. Most synthetic adhesive systems suffer significant deterioration, even complete failure, in the presence of moisture, which in its broadest sense ranges from surface hydration to immersion in body fluids or seawater. The high-risk, long-term goal of this IRG is to develop the fundamental design principles involved in bio-adhesion, achieve translation to synthetic systems, and pioneer a systems approach to wet bonding that spans nano- to macroscale dimensions.